Job Discussion Forums

Dr Disco · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: Money saved? Debt?

I'm trying to get an idea if anyone can save money in Japan. Everyone tells me it's impossible.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Dr Disco · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:08 am Post subject:

It does specify USD. Rolling Eyes

Just getting a cursory glance; it's not a thesis paper. It's only a message board; relax...

I have searched with varied results...plus it's dial up in my country. It takes forever to get a webpage if it's cloudy. As of late, floods galore. Thus, I post the question to avoid hours of searching.

Thanks for the feedback.

Very Happy

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

I save around $1400 a month.

This poll requires changing...

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

taikibansei · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 811 Location: Japan

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

Big John Stud · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 513

I am curious! A question for those who save $1,400 or more! How?

I pretty much don't do anything now days but work, work out, eat and sleep. I don't save nearly that much a month. If you guys teach at a unversity please state so. If not please let us in on your secrete on how to save money in Japan!

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I would think for months where you don't save as much, trip, large clothing purchases etc., just take your average savings for the year and divide it by 12.

Of course lifestyle has something to do with it. People who are paying off a mortgage or who travel a lot (my case) won't save as much as some others will. I also don't want too heavy of a workload sometimes, helps keep my sanity.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I can appreciate what the OP is trying to get at, but I also agree with what others have said -- context is everything. I can save AT LEAST $500 USD a month -- and certainly do so (I did take part in the poll, FWIW). But I can virtually guarantee that my circumstances are different than the OP's...

I don't know if that helped the OP any, but if it did -- I'm glad to have been of assistance.

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

Zzonkmiles · Joined: 05 Apr 2003 Posts: 309

The amount I could save each month is offset by student loan payments I send home every month. That won't change anytime soon, as I still have a balance of $28,000.

Fortunately, I have paid off a $9000 credit card bill since coming to Japan, however.

If these bills did not exist, I could save about $600 or $700 a month. So as of right now, I send home enough money each month that would allow me to still break even in Japan.

Regarding my situation, I am married, but my wife works too. We have a dog, but no children. I have a master's degree and teach at a senmongakko, which is basically a step between a high school and a university. I don't teach private lessons, and I never have since I arrived here in 2003.

How much you can save depends on so many factors:

1. Your NET salary (after taxes, deductions, insurance, etc.). And do you get semiannual bonuses?
2. Your rent and utilities
3. Your phone bill and related charges (be careful not to go exceed your calling plan's allotted minutes each month!)
4. How much food you eat and where you eat it (cooking at home vs. eating out)
5. Your social life (you can easily blow 10,000 yen on a Friday night in Kitashinchi or Shibuya or Shinsaibashi, for example)
6. Your marital/family status. Feeding a wife and a kid is different from just feeding yourself and living off of instant ramen.
7. Your financial obligations back home (alimony, student loans, credit cards, other loans, car payments, etc.)
8. How often you go shopping. Those 4000 yen shirts you see for sale may look cute, but if you buy one every two weeks...
9. Transportation costs. Do you walk? Ride a bike? Use taxis more often than you should? Pay for a commuter pass that you rarely use? Do you own a car or a minibike? If so, how much insurance do you need?
10. Tuition for Japanese lessons or any other cultural lessons you may be taking (karate, ikebana, tea ceremony, etc.)
11. Other expenses not listed above, such as laundry, developing film, any traveling you may do, international phone calls you may make, etc.

I'm inclined to agree with the other posters and simply say that everyone's situation is different. I would say, however, that the average single eikaiwa teacher at a Big 4 school should be able to save about $500 a month if they go out MAYBE once or twice a week and have no loans to pay off back home.

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:40 am Post subject:

Money saved? You must be joking!

If you see me one week before payday it will probably be while I'm syphoning petrol out of your car because I can't afford any more shochu. By the way, that can be dangerous if you're smoking a discarded cigarette butt at the time.

They don't pay airline pilots enough in this country!

Eva Pilot · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:25 pm Post subject:

I have made money one month since I have been here...and all that profit was blown when I discovered a store that sold Japanese wrestling figures made in 1999.

I am usually pretty poverty stricken the last few days approaching a payday, but that's because I am the type of person that just likes to spend money.

As long as I keep surviving, I'm gonna keep spending!